Imbert announces new billion $$ port

WORKS AND Transport Minister Colm Imbert yesterday announced that Government will  construct a new $1.5 billion port on lands located to the south of Port-of-Spain within the next three years. Addressing the opening of a workshop at the Port Authority of Trinidad and Tobago’s (PATT) Port-of-Spain headquarters, the minister explained that this meant the relocation of the Port-of-Spain port outside of the city, and the use of lands currently occupied by the port for part of the country’s new railway system and other infrastructural works designed to cure the suffocation of TT’s transportation systems.

Prime Minister Patrick Manning first hinted at the construction of a new port for TT’s capital city during last month’s Siparia by-election campaign. Plans for a comprehensive waterfront development from Chaguaramas to lands just south of Port-of-Spain were articulated earlier this year by former works and transport minister Franklin Khan. Speaking with reporters after yesterday’s workshop, Imbert said he planned to make a comprehensive statement “outlining the configuration of the new port and how different this port will be to the current situation here in Port-of-Spain” within a month’s time, when Parliament returns from recess. The minister added that he had hoped to have done so in the House of Representatives before the break, but other matters had engaged the Government’s attention at that time.

However, Imbert said the new port will be built on lands located south of National Petroleum’s South Quay headquarters, using “the most sophisticated technology.” “Whatever mistakes and errors currently exist here (in Port-of-Spain), we are going to make our best effort not to repeat them there.” He hinted that the new port’s main priority will be cargo handling and stakeholders will carefully examine the mix of trans-shipment and local cargo “and determine what we should do.” The minister expressed concern about reports he received that the port is losing money “on every single container of trans-shipment cargo,” and advised the PATT to examine the matter very closely.

Imbert stated that once the port is moved out of the city, the lands that it currently occupies will be freed up for several of the developmental plans which the Government has, such as construction of a $15 billion train-based, mass transit system. On Wednesday, Imbert outlined plans for the system during a meeting at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, saying Government plans to seek international expertise to design and build the system in TT. He hinted that a train station for Port-of-Spain could be built on lands currently occupied by the port, and Wrightson Road will be transformed into an eight-lane highway with a bypass going through Dock Road on the waterfront.

Stakeholders back new port

THE TRINIDAD and Tobago Manufacturers’ Association (TTMA), Shipping Association of TT and the Seamen and Waterfront Workers Trade Union (SWWTU) are supporting Government’s plan to build a modern, $1.5 billion port outside of Port-of-Spain. Works and Transport Minister Colm Imbert made the announcement when he addressed a workshop at the Port Authority of TT’s (PATT) Port-of-Spain headquarters yesterday. Imbert said the new port will be constructed within three years time and he plans to make a comprehensive statement about it when Parliament returns from recess in September.

Referring to a recent divergence of views between Planning and Development Minister Camille Robinson-Regis and the Downtown Owners’ and Merchants’ Association (DOMA) about developmental plans for Port-of-Spain, Imbert said he viewed the city as a whole and the port’s relocation would make land available for significant developmental works in Port-of-Spain, such as the new train system and new highway improvements. The minister also outlined a series of other initiatives being undertaken by the PATT to improve the port’s efficiency. Speaking afterwards to reporters, TTMA president Paul Quesnel said, “ We are very happy that the minister has shown that he has clearly understood all the problems we are facing, the business community and the population at large, with regards to the port and they have taken steps to address these problems. We eagerly wait to see implementation.”

Quesnel described the new port mentioned by Imbert as “interesting,” wondering if the necessary Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) or other preliminary studies had been done regarding the lands where the new port will be constructed. He urged Government to do its homework and ensure that the current problems at the Port-of-Spain port are not duplicated at the new port. Asked about the start of next month’s Christmas trading season, Quesnel said the port was working “fairly well” at this time due to the new container management system and pieces of equipment which the PATT recently acquired.

“We continue to look at the situation to make sure that everything is in place so that we have a good Christmas,” he added. Shipping Association of TT president Sonya Voisin-Tom said the plan to relocate the port to the outskirts of Port-of-Spain is “definitely a good decision” by the Government. She said this would allow the port to develop into a “first-class facility” and be able to compete more effectively within the region. SWWTU president Michael Annisette said the union hopes that the port’s relocation could be done with minimal disruption and would improve its efficiency. However, he said interim problems of land and equipment at the port must be continuously addressed. On the new management structure being proposed for the port, Annisette said any foreign management expertise being brought in should be temporary and there must be an eventual transition to local management, and his union should get first preference to port jobs that would be outsourced. He added that Imbert has heard the union’s recommendations and agreed to them in principle.

New management coming for PoS docks

WORKS AND Transport Minister Colm Imbert yesterday said a new management structure will be in place at the Port-of-Spain port by year’s end, and Government will make a decision on the exact vessel configuration to operate the Tobago seabridge around the same time. Speaking at a workshop at the Port Authority of Trinidad and Tobago’s (PATT) Port-of-Spain offices, Imbert disclosed that a new management operator for the port terminal will be on board by October and “is required to bring international best practices and standards to Port-of-Spain, which will improve overall productivity and vessel turnaround times.” Tenders were issued yesterday for this particular operator.

Expressing his satisfaction that the port has decided to focus on cargo handling as its core business activity, Imbert said transition teams have been established to split the PATT into three distinct business units — Port Infrastructure Company (real estate management, cruise shipping, port security, Caricom wharves), Port-of-Spain port (cargo handling — local and trans-shipment) and TT Inter-Island Transportation Company (inter-island ferry service) — by December. Observing that similar initiatives were currently being undertaken by State oil company Petrotrin and should be undertaken by the Public Transport Service  Corporation, Imbert said the separation of port operations into distinct areas “allows us to look closely at the need for the port to be directly involved in real estate development or the provision of the inter-island ferry service and whether it should farm out these areas of operations to others.”

Imbert also said the operations of the Tobago seabridge have improved significantly over the last six months through Government’s wetleasing of the MV Sonia and the fast ferry The Cat (which was subsequently replaced by another fast ferry, The Lynx). He said 4,000 people and 400 vehicles are transported to and from Tobago on a daily basis with the sailings of these ferries. Recalling that proposals were recently invited for the acquisition of a new fast ferry, Imbert said Government and the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) have decided to test the sea legs of the Lynx until November or December before a decision is made on this matter. The minister added that while no decision has been made about the vessel configuration for the seabridge, the THA has a preference to a configuration which involved two fast ferries. Imbert also indicated that in the coming months, efficiency at the port would be improved through the acquisition of new equipment and technology and the creation of additional berthing space for vessels.